All the species of wild cat have evolved from a distant, but common ancestory. Today tracing the links between the various forms and species can be both problematic and intreging - however to sustain the worlds populations of wildcat species, we must have a clear understanding of the genetic links and relationships in order to help manage breeding programmes and conservation efforts.
For many years zoologists and taxonomists have argued over the exact classification of the feline species. In looking at the phylogony, which is the study of the evolutionary development and history of a species, modern wild cat ancestry can be traced back well over 2 million years.
From fossil remains of the various species of big cat - lion, tiger, leopard and jaguar - it has been possible to piece together an overview of the various relationships between today's cat species. A common, but distant ancestry leave all wild cat species with fundamental similarities. However through evolutionary adaptation, marked differences now distinguish one species from another - those built for speed over land and others built for agility in the tree tops - those who hunt by day and those who are nocturnal in pursuit of their prey.
In broad terms the position of the family Felidae within the traditional classification system is well established, but the more detailed structuring of phylogenetic relationships of the felid species is much less certain. Modern methods of molecular study have bought to light many relationships which in the past have been hard to support using the more traditional methods of morphological and behavioural study.
Today the need to establish true and specific relationships between the members of the family Felidae is of utmost importance. To sustain the worlds populations of wildcat species, biologists, zoologists and conservationist must have a clear understanding of the genetic links and relationships in order to help manage breeding programmes and conservation efforts.
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